Agenda item
POLITICAL BALANCE IN CABINET
To consider a report by the Head of Legal, HR & Democratic Services (copy attached) about the application of political balance to the composition of Cabinet.
Minutes:
Councillor Barry Mellor, Chair of Corporate Governance
Committee, introduced the report (previously circulated) regarding the
application of political balance to the composition of the Cabinet.
On 23 October 2018, Council passed a Motion requesting
Corporate Governance Committee consider options and present a report to Full
Council on 19 February 2019. The report
was to outline how the Constitution could be changed to remove the requirement
for political balance in the Cabinet.
The Corporate Governance Committee considered the options
regarding the composition of Cabinet on 23 January 2019. The Committee recommended that the
requirement for political balance in the Cabinet be removed and that the
“strong leader” model be retained allowing the Leader to appoint and remove
members of the Cabinet.
At this juncture, Councillor Joan Butterfield requested a
recorded vote.
The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services stated that at
least one sixth of the members present would have to be in agreement with the
recorded vote. More than one sixth of
those present stood in agreement to the recorded vote.
During discussions, the following points were raised:
·
It was reiterated that the Cabinet in Denbighshire
was the only one in Wales with political balance. The system was working well
as Denbighshire had been the best performing council for four years and if not
the best, in the top quartile.
·
Currently every political party was able to be
part of Cabinet but if the proposal were agreed, some groups could be excluded
from Cabinet.
·
Members of two political parties did not sit on
Cabinet as their national politics did not approve.
·
The number of members who had been in attendance
at the Corporate Governance Committee was raised. Even though the Committee had been quorate
the numbers were depleted.
·
It was stressed that the quality of Leadership
of the Cabinet was paramount and Denbighshire had a good strong Leader.
·
Currently members worked well together and aimed
to deliver services to the residents of Denbighshire.
·
Bringing Denbighshire into line with all other
Welsh Councils had been the aim of the original Notice of Motion and it was
confirmed that the Labour Group would continue to refuse the offer of seats
within Cabinet if political balance were to be removed.
The Leader stated that Cabinet had worked well for the
previous 10/11 years, and there was no reason to fall in line with the other 21
Local Authorities. The way in which
Cabinet worked was good for all Councillors and not just Cabinet members. There would be risks if the political balance
was removed as
some groups could take the lead reducing the need for workshops and working
groups rather than working together.
There would be a fear that national politics would be more important
than local politics which could damage the local council with community focus
becoming more of a national focus.
Every individual within the current council was able to make
decisions. Denbighshire was a Local Authority
that delivered local services to the local community. There was a culture within Denbighshire of
accountability, transparency and honesty.
If a group were to be influenced by national politics, the culture would
change. The focus needed to be on the
community.
The Leader stated:-
·
He could not support isolating political groups
·
The council should not lose focus on our
communities, and
·
He did not see this as a change for the better
At this juncture
(11.05 a.m.) there was a 10 minute break for political groups to discuss the
forthcoming vote.
The meeting
reconvened at 11.15 a.m.
A recorded vote took place as follows:
In favour of removing political balance in Cabinet –
Councillors Mabon ap Gwynfor, Brian Blakeley, Joan
Butterfield, Jeanette Chamberlain-Jones, Ellie Chard, Meirick Lloyd Davies,
Alan James, Huw Jones, Pat Jones, Gwyneth Kensler, Geraint Lloyd-Williams,
Barry Mellor, Bob Murray, Paul Penlington, Peter Prendergast, Arwel Roberts,
Glenn Swingler, Rhys Thomas, Graham Timms, Cheryl Williams, Eryl Williams, and
Emrys Wynne
Against the removing of political balance in Cabinet –
Councillors Ann Davies, Gareth Davies, Hugh Evans, Peter Evans, Bobby Feeley,
Rachel Flynn, Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Martyn Holland, Brian Jones, Richard
Mainon, Christine Marston, Melvyn Mile, Merfyn Parry, Peter Scott, Tony Thomas,
Andrew Thomas, Julian Thompson-Hill, Joe Welch, David Williams, Huw Williams,
and Mark Young.
In favour – 22
Against – 21
Therefore, it was:
RESOLVED that Council
agreed the recommendation of the Corporate Governance Committee that the
requirement for Cabinet to be politically balanced be removed from the
Council’s Constitution and replaced with provision for the Cabinet to be
appointed by the Leader of the Council.
Supporting documents:
- Council report political balance of Cabinet Feb 2019, item 4. PDF 116 KB
- Appendix 1 - Constitution Section 5, item 4. PDF 110 KB
- Appendix 2 -Table of Welsh authorities political balance cabinet, item 4. PDF 203 KB
- Appendix 3 - Constitution Draft Section 5, item 4. PDF 127 KB